


Blood and Magic

by Cinder



Series: Erin the Vampire Slayer [2]
Category: Derry Girls (TV)
Genre: Communication is hard, F/M, james and erin are angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26866489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinder/pseuds/Cinder
Summary: She's nearly died. Vampires are after her blood. And James will barely talk to her.Erin's pretty much given up all hope of having a normal life.*An AU version of Derry Girls where Erin's the Slayer, Sister Michael is her (very reluctant) Watcher, and the rest of the Derry Girls are the Scooby Gang.
Relationships: James Maguire/Erin Quinn
Series: Erin the Vampire Slayer [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1892998
Comments: 16
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

The moon was full, giving a clear view of the graveyard. Everything was easy to see – the trees; the graves, covered with grass and flowers; the vampires raising up from those graves – 

The mounds of fresh earth were pushed aside by grimy hands, pushing themselves up from their graves and into the night once more. They were met by three others, doubtless the vampires that had turned them, and all five bared their fangs. Suddenly, they turned as one, hissing as a figure emerged from the graveyard’s fog. 

Erin sighed, looking at the assembled vampires. “Is it too much to ask for just ONE quiet night?” 

“It’s her!” 

Erin grinned and tightened her grip on her sword. There weren’t a lot of positives to slaying vampires and demons every night, but it WAS a little cool to become feared by supernatural creatures. 

Except the creatures weren’t looking at her. 

Michelle stepped up beside her, grinning and tapping her baseball bat on the ground. “Who wants to be first?” 

Immediately the creatures scattered. 

Erin let the sword drop, scowling. “Are you kidding me?!” 

“What?” Michelle said. 

“I am the SLAYER, and you’re just a person with a baseball bat. How come everyone knows who you are and not me?”

“I’m pretty sure everyone has a fair clue of who you are.” 

“Um…I don’t want to interrupt what is CLEARLY an important conversation,” Clare said, marching forward to join her friends. “But they’re getting away.”

“I’m on it, I’m on it,” Erin said, putting her sword away. She caught Michelle’s eye. “You take left, I’ll take right. The rest of you, get to the cemetery entrance and make sure none of them get past it.”

Clare looked alarmed. “Are you really sure we’re the best to do that?” She gestured to her group. Orla was staring absently into the sky, and James looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. 

“Not a lot of options here, Clare!” Erin called over her shoulder as she ran off. 

She raced through the cemetery, easily catching up to the vampires. Still running, she pulled a stake out of her pocket and threw it. It caught a vampire in the heart, making it explode into dust that Erin had to run through. 

“Ew,” she said, coughing. 

The remaining vamps stopped running and turned, trying to catch her by surprise. Erin didn’t have time to stop and pull out her sword, but grabbed a dagger and ran into the vamp, using the force of her momentum to plunge the dagger in. The vampire’s arms were covering the heart, so she was unable to stab there, but she plunged the silver blade into the stomach, driving it up to the heart. The vampire exploded into dust, and Erin was once more sputtering and wiping dust of her hair. 

She sheathed the dagger, reached behind her, and drew her sword out from its scabbard on her back. She ran on, heading towards the graveyard entrance. 

As she dashed among the tombstones, she heard screeches, screams, and the sound of weapons hitting flesh. Michelle. 

Erin rolled her eyes, still irritated that Michelle was better known than her. She didn’t worry for her friend in the fight – Michelle was more of a match for any vampire. 

Sure enough, when the entranceway came into sight, Michelle was battling against the two remaining vampires. As Erin got close, Michelle caught one of the vamps with the bat. There was a crack, and then the vamp’s arm hung loose at its side. It snarled, and dove for her throat in a last ditch attempt at an attack. Before it reached her, Michelle had a stake out and threw it at its chest. 

The final vampire tried to pounce, but it fell to its feet, shrieking, from the vial of Holy Water Clare had thrown at it. Erin reached them and finished the vamp off with a swing of her sword.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad,” Michelle said. She looked, as always, refreshed and pleased by a fight. Poor Clare looked nauseous, Orla looked vacant, and James…well, James still looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. To be fair, he had been wearing that expression ever since his mum had tried to help murder Erin. 

Erin swallowed hard, and turned away from James. “Everyone okay?” 

“Grand.” Michelle beamed.

“Well done.” Erin spun around at the voice, her grip on her sword tightening. Then she relaxed when Sister Michael stepped into the moonlight.

“Christ, sneaking up on people in a graveyard!” Michelle said. 

“Thought I’d come and see how you were progressing in fights,” Sister Michael said. “Have to say, you are…probably not going to die. In the next week or so, at least.”

It was the closest they’d get to a compliment. 

“Did you see me?” Michelle said, swinging the bat around. “The vamps know who I am now. They fear me.” 

Erin rolled her eyes, scoffing. 

“It might not have been the mistake I initially thought it was to teach you, Miss Mallon,” Sister Michael said. “Although you could enjoy it less.” 

“I agree,” Erin said, taking any chance to needle Michelle. 

“Ach, someone’s got to stake them, do we have to be miserable while we do it?” Michelle said. She bumped her shoulder against Erin’s, and Erin finally gave her a grin. 

Sister Michael rolled her eyes, but sighed and motioned towards the entrance to the graveyard. The group took the hint and started to move towards it. Erin stopped, and turned towards James. She always seemed to be looking out for him these days, seeing if he was part of the group, or standing outside of it. In this case, he was outside, not noticing that they were about to leave. 

“Oy, ballache, are you coming?” Michelle called past her, and Erin winced. Not she would have chosen to approach James, especially with that sad, vacant expression on his face. 

James was staring at the place where the vampires had died. He didn’t react until Clare said “James?” and then finally he looked at them. 

“Coming.” He joined them, and together, Erin, her friends, and her Watcher, walked out of the graveyard.


	2. Chapter 2

“Should we do something about James?” Erin asked. She was sitting with her friends at lunch. James had gone to the library instead of eating with them, as he had been his habit during the past few weeks. 

“Do you mean finally vote him out of the group?” Michelle said. 

“I think she means talking about the fact that he’s seriously depressed,” Clare said, irritated. “He doesn’t eat, he barely hangs out with us, barely LOOKS at us –“ 

“Aye, and his aura’s all dark and gloomy,” Orla said. “Makes me sad to look at.” She picked forlornly at her crisps. 

Michelle crossed her arms and snorted. “Ach, he’s been pouting ever since his mam was revealed to be Queen Bitch of the Vampires.”

“She’s not a vampire yet,” Erin said. 

“How do we know? She went to ground and who knows what’s happened since then? Maybe the vamps turned her. Maybe they ate her.” 

“Shut up!” Clare hissed, looking up and down the hallways. “What if James heard you?”

“Fat chance of him showing up,” Michelle said. “He’s hiding under a pile of books.”

“That’s the thing…I think he blames himself,” Erin said. “For his mam, and Peter and…”

“And you nearly dying? Yeah, he should,” Michelle said. 

“Michelle!” Clare said. Erin’s eyes widened. Even Orla stopped playing with her food and stared at her. 

“What?” Michelle said, her head swinging from girl to girl. Finally her eyes stopped on Erin. “You WERE DYING,” she said. “You were on the ground, and you looked like a fucking horror movie, and I TOLD HIM, I TOLD HIM NOT TO TRUST HER. And he just turned and walked away, cause of course he knew better, and then two hours later you were in a lake of your blood cause he TRUSTED that bitch.” 

Erin wrapped her arms around her legs. “It was his mam, Michelle,” she said softly.

Michelle looked down at the floor, scowling. “Doesn’t mean he wasn’t an eejit,” she said quietly. 

“You know, he was really scared when he realized his mam tricked us,” Erin said. “He kept yelling at his mam to help me and…” She really didn’t want to get into everything that had happened in the graveyard. James’ screaming and begging, the look in Mrs. Maguire’s eyes, the moment she realized the knife had hit her chest…the blood…

Michelle’s scowl receded, just a bit. “He’s still an eejit,” she said. She scuffed the floor with her shoe. 

“So what should we do?” Clare asked. 

“We could give him some crisps,” Orla said. 

“I think we’ll need more than crisps, Orla,” Erin said. 

“Maybe we should talk to him?” Clare prompted.

Michelle sighed. “Alright, let’s talk to the dick.” 

“Maybe it should be only one of us,” Clare said. “So he…doesn’t feel overwhelmed.” 

Or more accurately, Erin thought, so Michelle doesn’t call him an eejit while trying to give him a pep talk. 

“Fine,” Michelle said. “Who’s it gonna be?” 

They all looked at each other for a minute.

“I –“ 

“No, Orla.” 

Orla pouted. “I’m good at talks.”

“You are,” Erin admitted, remembering how her cousin had barely left her side when she had been recovering. “But after a while it’s a lot of aura stuff and we’re all still trying to understand it.” 

“It’s not that hard, it’s just when the blues mix with the greens it’s nice, but when the reds get in there it’s tricky…” Orla trailed off, entranced by the colors floating through the air that no one else could see. 

“Right, who else?” 

Michelle waved her hand in the air. “Might be better for one of you two,” she gestured to Erin and Clare, “to talk him ‘round. You’re all better with the mushy stuff.”

Clare and Erin looked at each other.

“I could try,” Erin said. 

“Do you think it’s a good idea?” Clare said. “He might feel awkward since –“

“He helped his mam shove a knife in your chest?” Michelle said. 

“It was Father Peter, not his mam,” Erin said. “And I think that’s WHY I should talk to him. If he blames himself for something happening to me, then maybe I’m the best one to talk him ‘round.” 

Clare nodded, Michelle shrugged, and Orla was still entranced by everyone’s auras. Erin stood up, brushing crumbs off her skirt.

“What, you’re going now?” Clare said. 

“Why not?” If she waited, then classes would get in the way, and then practice with Sister Michael, and then patrolling the graveyards, and she was also a big coward and if she didn’t do it now she’d find a way to get out of it. 

*

She found James in the library. He was tucked away in the corner, hidden behind several shelves. His entire table was covered with books, and he was halfway through one that was so big that she wondered if he was attempting to read the dictionary. 

James looked up when she approached. His eyes widened, and he immediately began putting the books away, shoving them into his backpack. Erin wasn’t sure how so many books could fit in such an average sized backpack, but he was somehow making it work. By the time Erin had plunked herself into seat across from him, all the books were gone. 

“We need to talk,” she said.

“I’m kind of busy,” James said. He managed to meet her eyes for a second, and then looked away. 

“I know, but this can’t wait.” She wanted to approach this as reasonably and maturely as possible. 

“Erin –“

“You’ve been avoiding me ever since…well, you know, and I want to talk about it.” 

James shot up from his seat. “We’ll be late for class.” 

“Class isn’t for another 10 minutes.” Erin followed him as he began to make his way out of the library.

“I have homework I need to finish.”

“I’ll give you the answers.” A passing teacher glared at her. 

“I really prefer to do it myself, since it’ll probably be on an exam –“ James said.

“Would you stop making excuses and just look at me?!” Okay, so this wasn’t being mature, but fuck it, she didn’t care anymore. She was just annoyed that he wouldn’t even spend two seconds with her. 

“Later, okay?” 

“James!” Erin tried to follow him, but he was lost in a mass of students. She stomped her foot. 

“Dicko run off?” Her friends joined her.

“Yeah,” Erin said. She felt only mildly better when Orla hugged her, her chin resting on Erin’s shoulder. 

“Poor James, he must be feeling awful,” Clare said. 

“Feeling sorry for himself is more like it,” Michelle said. 

“Want me to try and talk to him?” Clare said. 

“No,” Erin said, a plan beginning to form in her mind. “I’ll give it another go. He’s gonna talk about his feelings whether he wants to or not.”

“Okay, I did not like the way you said that –“ 

“Ach, just let her have this, Clare.” 

“But –“ 

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” Erin said. 

Clare sighed. “Okay,” she said, in a voice that clearly said she didn’t think this would end well.


End file.
